PPP and PML-N to sign Charter of Democracy Part II
By Abdul Nishapuri
President Asif Ali Zardari and Opposition Leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif are expected to meet in the next few days to announce a renewed commitment to democracy by signing the ‘Charter of Democracy Part II’.
It has been learnt by “Let Us Build Pakistan” that the Zardari-Nawaz meeting will be a major milestone in the history of democracy in the country. The meeting will bring a major disappointment to ‘the establishment’ and to the supporters of Taliban and haters of democracy in Pakistan.
The following are some key clauses of the expected joint statement:
1. Certain parts of the 17the amendment will be repealed including but not limited to the annulment of Article 58(2)b and the annulment of disqualification of a person to be elected as a Prime Minister for the third term. This will technically clear the way for Mr Nawaz Sharif in the 2012 elections.
2. Mr Sharif’s PML-N will agree to be a part of the federal cabinet. Mr Sharif will also guarantee in writing that the elected government will be allowed to complete its full constitutional term (5 years), and that there will be no demand for a mid-term elections, nor PML-N will become a part of a campaign to destabilize the democratic government.
3. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan will replace Mr Salman Tasir as Governor of Punjab.
4. A “National Truth and Reconciliation Commission” will be established through an act of parliament. The Commission will comprise the following persons: Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, Asma Jahangir, Javed Hashmi, Raza Rabbani, and I.A. Rehman. The Commission will consider all allegations of corruption not only against politicians but also against military and civil bureaucrats in the country from 1977 onwards. The Commission will be given the constitutional authority by the parliament to make final decisions on all cases with a view to conduct across the board accountability as well as reach truth and reconciliation.
5. Defence budget will be regularly audited by the public accounts committee of the parliament.
6. PPP and PML-N will offer full political support to Pakistan Army in its operation against Taliban terrorists.
Here are some relevant news items, which point towards this development.
PPP wants PML-N in coalition for joining cabinet
By Zulqernain Tahir
Monday, 07 Dec, 2009
LAHORE: The PPP has linked repeal of the 17th Amendment to PML-N joining the federal cabinet for the remaining term of the government.
‘There will have to be some give and take. Who will guarantee that after the controversial amendment is done away with the PML-N will not destabilise the PPP government in order to pave way for the Sharifs’ a cabinet member said on Sunday.
‘In fact this is the deadlock between the PPP and PML-N over the issue,’ he told Dawn, adding that senior leaders of both parties were discussing the matter and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had given his consent in this regard. ‘However we have sought a firm assurance from the PML-N leadership that it will not back out of its commitment of joining the cabinet once we repeal the amendment,’ he said.
When it was pointed out that President Asif Ali Zardari had in the past backed out of commitments with the PML-N leadership, the cabinet member said: ‘This is true and that is why we are sceptical. Who will guarantee that Mian Sahib after becoming eligible to become prime minister for the third time after the repeal of the 17th Amendment will not destabilise the PPP government? As we know, commitments or promises are often not kept in the tug of war for power.’
He said the PPP high command is even ready to replace Punjab Governor Salman Taseer as wished by Mr Sharif. ‘But all this depends on how he responds to the offer.’
Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan had asked the PML-N not to oppose the renaming of the NWFP to break the ‘deadlock’ and pave way for consensus on a constitutional package.
PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said his party would not accept any condition for the repeal of the amendment.
‘We will not accept any offer of becoming part of the federal government. Nawaz Sharif has not given consent in this regard.’
He said the PML-N might consider joining the government after the controversial amendments were repealed under the Charter of Democracy. He warned that if the PPP adopted delaying tactics the PML-N might withdraw the ‘concessions’ it had been giving to the government over the past one and a half years.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced that the 17th Amendment will be repealed soon, but sources claim that the process will take up to three months.
A 26-member special parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms has been meeting regularly to come up with recommendations by the end of the current month.
No threat to NRO beneficiaries in cabinet
By: Abrar Saeed | The Nation, Published: December 07, 2009
ISLAMABAD – Government has no intention to show door to any of the NRO beneficiary ministers in the Federal Cabinet, however, the portfolios of a number of ministers in the cabinet would likely be changed due to the planned merger of a number of ministries, sources close to the ruling coalition informed The Nation on Sunday.
Brushing aside the impression of any pressure on any of the NRO beneficiary ministers in the Federal Cabinet from Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani or any other top-notch in the government the sources further informed that showing door to any of the NRO beneficiaries would mean exerting pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari as he is also one of the main beneficiaries of the ordinance.
The sources in Pakistan People’s Party informed that the party could only deal with PPP ministers while the ministries doled out to coalition partners were not in its domain so the government would not take any decision in this regard as only the heads of the coalition partners were given the names of their members in the Federal Cabinet. The sources in the PPP said that other than merger the PPP could change the portfolios of some of its ministers on the ground of their unsatisfactory performance. The sources, however, added that in case of the merger of any of the ministries, presently with any of the coalition partners, the coalition partners would be duly accommodated.
Giving rationale behind the merger of some ministries which were earlier segregated to accommodate coalition partners would now be remerged owing to financial constraints and to satisfy the foreign donors who were not satisfied with the governance of the incumbent setup, sources further said.
abdul bhai Allah karay aisa ho .
PPP-PML-N cooperation
Reports of strong overtures by the PPP towards the PML-N to persuade it to rejoin the federal cabinet as a coalition partner can barely be called surprising for those political pundits who have been anticipating the conjoining of the two main political parties for some time now. But this time round these overtures have assumed the nature of a carrot and stick policy. Arguments are being presented by PPP insiders that President Asif Ali Zardari is linking the repeal of certain clauses of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution to the return of Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N as coalition partners at the Centre and providing guarantees of not pulling out at the first instance of political differences. The desperate desire of Mian Nawaz Sharif to become prime minister for a third time can only be materialised if the irritant clause of the controversial 17th Amendment barring a candidate from third time premiership is abolished. The PML-N also wishes the excessive powers concentrated in the office of the president by Musharraf to be returned to parliament and thereby the prime minister.
Both the PPP and the PML-N have high stakes at play here. By inviting the PML-N to rejoin as political partners, the PPP will achieve the two-thirds majority it currently lacks in parliament for repealing the offending articles of the 17th Amendment. The other facet of the political stakes for the PPP is the running of the government without the constant fear of destabilisation from the opposition, and with arguably the addition of whatever talent the incoming PML-N ministers can contribute to a cabinet beset by the twin problems of terrorism and a faltering economy. Based on its stance of dismissing offers of forming an alliance based on conditionalities, the PML-N leadership has resisted attempts made by the PPP in the past for reasons deriving from mutual mistrust. The political aspirations of Mian Nawaz Sharif to once again head a parliamentary democracy can only be realised if he agrees to enter the coalition, which will entail a parliamentary vote repealing the anti-democratic Article 58(2)(b) and prohibition on becoming a prime minister for the third time. The fact remains indisputable that both these articles were inserted by the Musharraf regime, specifically the latter one, to prevent the Sharifs and the deceased Benazir Bhutto from coming into power again.
While President Asif Zardari is cleverly negotiating his conditional offers to the PML-N, the political stakes are much higher for Mian Nawaz Sharif. Other than the third-time premiership and the abolition of 58(2)(b), the PML-N needs to keep its supremacy in the Punjab consolidated, while reorganizing the debilitated party in the other three provinces. Whether President Zardari will be willing to give in entirely to the demands of the PML-N or not, the repeal of anti-democratic clauses embedded in the 17th Amendment should go beyond partisan politics. For the sake of combating threats to national stability, President Zardari’s volte face on commitments in the past should not be allowed to assume paramountcy in eliminating the present environment of political distrust between the PML-N and the PPP, the two largest mainstream parties with the greatest interest in the continuance and stabilisation of the democratic system.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\12\08\story_8-12-2009_pg3_1
Greetings Well I finally did it – replied on your blog that is
Gilani, Nawaz discuss accountability law
By Amir Wasim
Monday, 04 Jan, 2010
The two leaders decided to stop office-bearers and workers of their parties from issuing statements against each other.—File photo by AP
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif discussed on Sunday salient features of the draft of a new accountability law which the government plans to introduce.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s House told Dawn that Mr Gilani called Mr Sharif for consultations on the draft.
Through the proposed law, the government plans to set up an ehtesab commission which will replace the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) constituted by former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Sharif told the prime minister that his party had already sent back the draft to the government and suggested some amendments.
The PML-N chief expressed the hope that the suggestions would be incorporated into the final draft and the bill would soon be tabled in parliament.
The prime minister assured Mr Sharif that the government would seriously consider PML-N’s proposals.
He said the new law would be “comprehensive in nature” and acceptable to all political parties.
Expressing the hope that the new law would help eliminate the culture of political victimisation, Mr Gilani said it had been drafted to meet future requirements.
The prime minister said he would continues with his politics of reconciliation and his government would not take any major step without consulting all the parties.
The two leaders decided to stop office-bearers and workers of their parties from issuing statements against each other.
When Mr Sharif informed the prime minister about his planned visits to Sindh and Balochistan next week, Mr Gilani asked him to help the government implement the Balochistan package.
He said the government was making all possible efforts to remove the sense of deprivation of the Baloch people.
The PML-N chief assured the prime minister that his party would help the government in its efforts to resolve the Balochistan issue, the spokesman said.
On the issue of the 17th Amendment, the prime minister said the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms would hold its meetings on a daily basis from Tuesday.
It may be recalled that the PML-N had earlier rejected the proposed Accountability Commission Bill 2009, alleging that several changes had been made to the draft after its approval in July by the parliamentary committee concerned.
The party had declared that it would not accept any loose amendment to the draft including its Clause 24 which says: “No holder of public office shall be prosecuted, after three years of the expiry of his term or of his ceasing to hold office, for an offence which he is alleged to have committed during his tenure.”
Another controversial clause stated: “No proceeding under this act shall lie against the holder of public office against anything which has been done in good faith or in pursuance of or in exercise of powers vested in him or believed to be vested in him, or intended to be done at the material time by virtue of this office.”
Earlier, talking to a group of journalists, the prime minister said: “We should have immediately implemented the CoD as it was signed by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. Not implementing the CoD immediately was the biggest mistake.”
He reiterated the government’s resolve to implement the charter.
The prime minister was scheduled to visit Lakki Marwat to meet the injured and the families of the victims of Friday’s suicide attack, but could not leave because of bad weather.
APP adds: The prime minister said successful military operations in Malakand and South Waziristan to curb terrorism and militancy, the Aghaz Huqooq-i-Balochistan Package, signing of the Seventh National Finance Commission (NFC) Award with consensus and the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order were major achievements of the government.
He said the government had given political ownership to the war against terrorism by mobilising public support and taking all political forces onboard.
“It is Pakistan’s own war and not a proxy war,” he said.
The prime minister said the recent series of bomb blasts and suicide attacks was a reaction to the successful military operation in South Waziristan.
“Pakistan has the ability, will and resolve to strongly fight terrorism and militancy and will be successful in eliminating this menace. But it needs support in capacity building.”
He said Pakistan was determined to fight terrorism because it had paid a heavy price in the war in the form of economic and human losses.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-gilani-cod-qs-12
دوسری جانب صدر زرداری نے اپنے تمام تر جوشیلے خطابات کے باوجود مسلم لیگ نون سے سیاسی مفاہمت کا دامن ہاتھ سے نہیں چھوڑا ہے۔
لاہور کےمدیروں سے ایک ملاقات میں انہوں نے واضح الفاظ میں کہا کہ اگر شریف برداران کو ان پر یقین نہیں ہے تو بھی کوئی بات نہیں انہیں توشرتف بردران پر یقین ہے۔
میاں نواز شریف جو چین کے دورے پر ہیں ان کا بیان بھی مفاہمانہ ہے اور انہوں نے دو باتیں واضح طور پر کہی ہیں ایک تو یہ کہ پیپلز پارٹی کو اپنے پانچ برس مکمل کرنے چاہیئں اور دوسرا یہ کہ اگر جہموریت کو کسی نے پٹڑی سے اتارنے کی کوشش کی تو حکومت سے پہلے وہ میدان میں آئیں گے۔
سیاسی مبصرین کا کہنا ہے کہ دونوں متحارب جماعتیں سیاسی میدان میں تو ایک دوسرے کے خلاف خم ٹھونکے کھڑی ہیں لیکن ان کی مرکزی قیادت میں بظاہر یہ اتفاق نظر آتا ہے کہ بلیوں کی لڑائی میں بندر کو ساری روٹی کھانے کی اجازت نہیں ملنی چاہیے
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2010/01/100118_punjab_zardari_salman.shtml